Ohio LinuxFest Proves Real FOSS Diversity

Ohio LinuxFest is for Everyone

September 3, 2010

By
Carla Schroder

The annual Ohio LinuxFest is a genuine grass-roots community event. It is one of the most fun and most worthwhile Linux fests, and one of the most welcoming-- everyone from brand-new Linux users, people curious about Linux, to wizened gurus and everyone in between are welcome.

Many of the big-name Linux fests pay lip service to diversity, but don't invest much energy in trying to attract a diverse audience, or a diverse range of speakers. The organizers of the 2010 Ohio LinuxFest wanted more women speakers, and with a bit of effort were able to attract many more than before:

"With a little outreach effort, and embracing diversity as a core value, the Ohio LinuxFest has successfully recruited more women to share their experience at OLF.

'How'd we do? While last year only five of the speakers at Ohio LinuxFest were women, out of a total of 31, this year 14 of the 38 speakers are women. That's a third of the conference speaking slots! One of the two keynoters is a woman. There were 107 talk proposals for the 27 general speaking slots. "

Read the rest of Maco's report to learn how they succeeded. It's nothing all that mysterious, just applying a bit of smarts.

Carla Schroder is the author of the Linux Cookbook and the Linux Networking Cookbook (O'Reilly Media), the upcoming "Book of Audacity" (NoStarch Press), a lifelong book lover, and the managing editor of LinuxPlanet and Linux Today.

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